Day Thirty-seven from Melissa - Scotland!

I was so nervous I'd miss the train, I woke up at 5:45, a good fifteen minutes ahead of my alarm clock. Everyone was rushing around, and then out the door to the underground station.  

We all met at King's Cross train station, which feels a lot like an airport. 

With our group, we got on the train. Car D for Durham - our teacher's last name. 

It was a five hour ride. 

Upon arrival, we dropped out stuff at the hotel and promptly went to hike Arthur's Seat. It's the highest point anywhere around, though I don't think it's anywhere near as high as the Y on Y Mount, even.   Regardless, it had some definite stuff places. 

Gorse!  The gorse was in bloom everywhere! This is what it looks like up close. See the sharp prickles?

That's looking back the way we came. Below is the very top of Arthur's seat. 

It doesn't look like it in the picture, but the wind was blowing so strongly that o kept losing my balance. I had to drag my crutches and crawl on my hands and knees up the last bit there, but I made it!

There's a metal plate at the top, with lines pointing to different landmarks visible from here. 

Want to see Ben Lomond, Mom?  I took two pictures from the same point, with the camera lined up with the line. Follow the line toward the horizon. You'll probably have to zoom in. No, it's not the long low ridge. It's the tiny hump, just visible above that ridge. It blends in with the sky - just barely visible. That's Ben Lomond. 

It doesn't line up exactly, but I did the best I could without having my phone blow away, which was a very real possibility. I can't believe how calm the pictures look. We were hanging onto that cement pedestal for dear life, trying to stay on our feet. 

The view was spectacular though. That water is the North Sea. Sail across it far enough, and you'll end up in Norway. 

Coming down was considerably less windy. 

Oh, and we found swans!

Then we went and ate cottage pie (meat and potatoes) at a hole in the wall place, which was super good!

Then we took a walk. The city of Edinburgh is kind of like a huge H, split by a canyon/train station and crossed by w bridge. This is looking from one side of the H to the other, as the sun was setting. It hit home then - we're in Edinburgh. 

This is the monument for Sir Walter Scott - one of my favorite authors. He wrote Ivanhoe and Quentin Durward and the Waverly novels. In fact, the train station here is named the Waverly station, probably after his books. 

Then we turned a corner and found fairyland. 

I can tell this is the land of legends and fables and fairytales, especially when it has scenery like this. This is Edinburgh Castle. It claims to be the most besieged castle in history, since it's place on the English/Scottish border was so hotly contested. 

Back in the 1090's Margaret Atheling lived here. An exiled Anglo-Saxon Princess, she came to Scotland for refuge and married the widower king Malcolm III. They had six children, and she was well known for her pious and humanitarian works. After her death of a broken heart three days after her husband and one of her sons were killed in battle, she was canonized by the Pope, and became Saint Margaret. 

She's my ancestor.